Hundreds of men and women in queue, with plastic buckets, waiting for their turn to get water from the supply tanks. That was the scene witnessed this June in most parts of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, including the elegant Mall Road that is compared to the streets of London and Paris.

The ‘Queen of Hills’ was starved of water in the peak tourist season as most places did not get supply for around 10 days due to depleting levels at the water sources. As taps ran dry for days, people suddenly remembered their traditional source of water — the baolis or baudis . They made a beeline for the baudis , in and around the town, with cans and buckets in their hands, to get water. (A baudi is a kind of stoned pit where water percolates naturally from the surface of the earth). Though the water crisis eased a bit after the pre-monsoon showers, what it did was draw the attention of the authorities as well as the people to the urgent need to revive traditional natural water sources and conserve this precious resource.

Sheer neglect, abandonment

“While there are several baudis in this historic town and its surroundings, water in most of these natural water bodies has become unfit for drinking or has dried up due to sheer neglect. This, despite the fact that the reverence for natural water sources, like baudis , is entrenched deeply in the social and cultural life of the people of the State,” says Krishan Kumar Sharma from Bharol, a village close to Shimla.

“These baudis are sacred to us and Khwaja, the jal devta (water deity), is worshipped by people in the villages at these natural sources. Special prayers are organised before the advent of summer at these baudis in the belief that the ritual will ensure that the water body does not dry up.” Sharma rues that the new generation does not bother to take adequate care of these natural water resources which are suffering due to neglect and abandonment.

However, in many villages, special committees have been set up to protect these water bodies. The Shiv Baudi near Summer Hill under Andghri village, which saw a rush of people during the crisis in Shimla, is one such. Sanjeev Thakur, the village head, says that baudis hold a very special place in their cultural and social life. Suman Kishore, the priest of the temple built over the baudi , keeps this one under lock and key for its safety. “But people can draw water from a tap that is connected with the baudi through a pipe,” he says.

In several other baudis too, water is protected by a covered roof with a tap available to access the resource. The deputy pradhan of Tundal panchayat, near Kandaghat, explains how, on the first day of the month of Ashad (monsoon season), villagers worship the water deity and prepare special dishes on the occasion.

Traditionally, these water bodies have always been part of the village marriage rituals. After the ceremony, when the bride reaches the village of her in-laws, she draws water from the baudi and offers it to her husband’s relatives, symbolising her official entry into the family. “Earlier there was no piped water supply and since it is the women who fetch water, the new bride would learn from where to fetch water,” explains Sharma. He says that it was not just a ritual, the whole idea of our ancestors was to emphasise the significance of these traditional water sources and the need to preserve them.

Himachal Pradesh has thousands of natural water resources but, as in several parts of the country, these perennial sources are drying up fast. According to H.K Sarveta, Executive Director of the Integrated Development Project funded by the World Bank, rejuvenating and reviving natural and traditional sources of water is one of the agendas of their upcoming project to be implemented in several districts of the State.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi

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